December 11, 2020 - 3:36pm -- stewart.1818@osu.edu

The Noble County Ohio State University Extension Community Development Educator, Gwynn Stewart, has joined forces with the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) to offer online Trauma-Informed Care training to community members. For the past few years, OhioMHAS has partnered with the ADAMHS Board of Montgomery County to provide a three-hour Trauma 101 training with topics ranging from Prevalence of Trauma, Resiliency, Recovery. 

The types of trauma that can affect an individual can come from joblessness, separation or divorce, social isolation, substance misuse, addiction, and death. This trauma can have ripple effects within a family or friend group, organization or school, and the overall community. Noble County has a poverty rate of 19.5 percent (with 23 percent of minors in poverty) and a higher than state or national average unemployment rate at 6.3 percent in October.

A Trauma-Informed approach teaches us that everyone experiences trauma differently, and instead of asking “what is wrong with you,” we should ask “what happened to you.”

Becoming “trauma-informed” means recognizing that people often have many different types of trauma in their lives. The Ohio Trauma-Informed Care project seeks to educate our communities about the impact of trauma on clients, co-workers, friends, family, and even ourselves. Understanding the impact of trauma is an important first step in becoming a compassionate and supportive community.

For more information on the training or to schedule, visit: https://fcs.osu.edu/programs/healthy-relationships-0/trauma-informed-care or contact Noble OSU CD Educator Gwynn Stewart at 740-305-3177 or stewart.1818@osu.edu.